Larry Inman (Tennessee)
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Larry Inman is the Zone 7 representative on the Wilson County Board of Education in Tennessee. He was first elected to the board in the general election on August 4, 2016.[1]
Inman participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Biography
Inman is the head women's basketball coach for Tennessee State University. He has worked in this role since May 2012. Inman has more than 25 years of experience working as a teacher and coach. He is a member of Immanuel Baptist Church. Inman earned a master's degree in administration and supervision from Tennessee State University. He and his wife have three children and nine grandchildren.[2]
Elections
2016
Five seats on the Wilson County Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on August 4, 2016.[3] The election added two more seats to the board, bringing the total from five up to seven.[4] The Zone 1 race featured incumbent Wayne McNeese and challenger John Jankowich. McNeese was re-elected to his seat. In Zone 3, Tom Sottek ran unopposed and won after incumbent Don Weathers dropped out of the race. Zone 5 incumbent Larry Tomlinson defeated challenger Dave Dixon to win another term. In the race for the new Zone 6 seat, Johnie Payton ran unopposed and won election to the board. Larry Inman, Chad Karl, and Gwynne Queener ran for the new Zone 7 seat, and Inman won the election.[5][6][7][1]
Results
| Wilson County Schools, Zone 7 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Larry Inman |
39.06% | 718 |
| Chad Karl | 37.76% | 694 |
| Gwynne Queener | 23.18% | 426 |
| Total Votes | 1,838 | |
| Source: Wilson County Election Commission, "Precinct Election Results," accessed September 1, 2016 | ||
Funding
Inman filed a statement of non-disclosure for the 2016 election stipulating that he would not spend more than $1,000 on his campaign. Because of this, he did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[8]
Endorsements
Inman received no official endorsements in the election.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Larry Inman participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on June 10, 2016:
| “ | My ultimate goal is to make the kids first become a reality along with motivated teachers with the same desire, not just a job.[9][10] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Tennessee. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Blank | |
| Blank | |
| Blank | |
| Blank | |
| Blank | |
| “ | There are numerous needs in our school system and the Kids should always be our most important focus![10] | ” |
| —Larry Inman (June 10, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I truly feel we teach to the test and do not promote the curriculum and enhance the learning process. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| On a case by case basis! |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| The curriculum |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Larry Inman' 'Wilson County Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wilson County Election Commission, "Election Results Reporting," accessed August 5, 2016
- ↑ Larry Inman Wilson County School Board Zone 7, "About," accessed May 26, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Calendar 2016," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ The Tennesseean, "4 of 5 Wilson school board seats to be contested in August," April 7, 2016
- ↑ Wilson County Election Commission, "Petitions," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ Wilson County Schools, "School Board," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ Lebanon Democrat, "Weathers drops out of school board race," April 16, 2016
- ↑ Wilson County Election Commission, "Statement of Non-Disclosure," accessed July 12, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Larry Inman's responses," June 10, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Wilson County Schools Elections | |
| Wilson County, Tennessee | |
| Election date: | August 4, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Zone 1: • Incumbent, Wayne McNeese • John Jankowich Zone 3: • Tom Sottek Zone 5: • Incumbent, Larry Tomlinson • Dave Dixon Zone 6: • Johnie Payton Zone 7: • Larry Inman • Chad Karl • Gwynne Queener |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
